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You’ve Been JUICED!
The other night, I had the misfortune of getting suckered into an abysmally stupid bit of programming on VH1. It’s one of these shows that endlessly rehashes the tired pathetic activities of washed-up soulless celebrities which seems to actively deflower your mind and heart as you watch it. All these shows seem to really be are avenues for media companies to cross-advertise and re-use clips to accrue licensing fees. And they frame the clips within this horrid on-going analysis and trite attempts at humor by half-baked second-string writers and comedians, whose passion against the celebrities they roast seems to be based on a perverse blend of jealousy and self-righteousness.
Needless to say: I fucking hate this shit. It is, in a nutshell, what is wrong with our culture: that the exploits of idiots are made fun of by other idiots and then sold as entertainment to a third group of idiots. Who wins in this circle jerk? Nobody, and everybody’s values bleed away into a sea of electrons firing away at your brain stem and leeching out any last dregs of humanity from your heart.
Can you tell how much I hate this stuff? Maybe their segment of OJ Simpsons new (actually, it came out earlier this year) prank television show called “Juiced!” In it, Simpson runs around dressing like Elvis, rapping and pulling dumb stunts on people. But the worst of the worst is that they have him pretending to be a used car salesman, trying to sell his white Ford Bronco to people, while extolling its virtues as a getaway vehicle, and even autographing a bullet hole in the side of it.
Simpson was not paid for the program, Mahr said.
“Basically O.J. Simpson has decided to do this because he wants to do it, and he wanted to have fun with it,” Mahr said.
Can you imagine what nerve it must take to write and produce this clip, nevermind for OJ Simpson to perform in it? To make two violent deaths - one of whom was his ex-wife - into some kind of game or joke? You’d think there would come a time when even the most soulless brainwashed and money-controlled husk of a celebrity must be forced to wake up to the reality of the terror in which they live… And yet, there he is, smiling away the civil suit which found him to be responsible for their deaths.
Maybe this is divine retribution though for OJ, and we just don’t realize it. Maybe god or the devil has penetrated his soul and is tearing him up from the inside. Maybe he goes home at night and cries and cuts himself, wailing and gnashing his teeth, flagellating himself with a spiked whip, as his soul writhes in anguish and existential dread. Maybe when he dies, Jesus will come down to him as he stands outside St. Peter’s gate and say to him, “Dude, you’ve totally just been JUICED!”
- Oops! I did it again!
- You’ve gotta open the gates.
- So you’ve become invisible…
- Princess Diana conspiracies
- You’ve Wun!
- Prev: Earthly Materialism
- Next: This Vast Uncaring Abyss…
October 10th, 2006 at 10:15 am
Welcome to American culture.~!~
Americans are the dumbest people on earth.
They think they are smart though.
Why.?
Because they are blessed with many mateial things.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:43 am
Welcome to American culture.~!~
Americans are the dumbest people on earth.
They think they are smart though.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:44 am
backwards quotes, haha
October 10th, 2006 at 10:57 am
the tv drivel is non-stop. I am not so much concerned for myself or anyone older than me as I am for the next gens…this is what they are exposed to and growing up with as the norm in entertainment and media. What’s next? What’s the alternative? I can’t even see how this shit makes money, I suppose it must.
I recently had to watch “Video on Trial” with my kid. What a useless 30 mins, apart from the fact we spent it together.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:14 am
heh. and when i try to tell people that maybe pop culture isn’t as harmless as it appears, they think i’m just being hyperbolic…
rape of the fucking soul, more like. trade in your humanity for some debased immortal simulacrum of pure light. very luciferian.
October 10th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
Amen. Preaching to the choir here, bud.
I remember the day OJ was escaping in his white Bronco. My roommate and very good friend was watching the whole thing on TV. I was surprised, because she had (and continues to have) much better sense than to get caught up in the mind-numbing hysteria. As the camera was following the vehicle down the freeway, I asked her why she was watching this BS. Her response: “I just want to see how far they [the media] are going to take this.”
Often times, when the TV happens to be on at somebody else’s house, I find myself drawn to the screen with the same curiousity and sick fascination: how far are they really going to take it?
October 10th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
I think I’ve told this story before, but I’ll tell it again. I used to speak to my grandmother in Spanish, which was her first language. I’m only semi-fluent, so it was and is hard for me to express nuance in that language. I was trying to explain to her one day why I avoid watching TV. Struggling to find a way to express the concept that television is evil (as opposed to “malo”, simply “bad” or “undesirable”) I described it as “juguete del diablo”, or “devil’s toy”. She laughed and laughed, and frequently repeated my poetic/hyperbolic “exaggeration”.
October 10th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
They are going to take it to the bitter end.
October 10th, 2006 at 4:41 pm
2 films to watch which pretty much say it all on this subject:
Paddy Chayefsky/Sidney Lumet’s NETWORK
Mike Judge’s IDIOCRACY (since it’s been buried by the studio, you may have to wait for DVD. But it’s sure to become another cult classic from the maker of OFFICE SPACE.)
October 10th, 2006 at 6:14 pm
Mmmm, I really like this word idiocracy. I am going to employ it soon.
I have been using the word corporatacracy to describe things alot.
Maybe I could combine these two even. Corporateidiocracy. This has possibilities.
October 10th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
I’d be interested to see what Mike Judges Idiocracy is like. I thought Office Space was brilliant. But he also created Beavis and Butthead, which if we remember are the god fathers of the current idiots commenting on idiots commenting on idiots paradigm.
October 10th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
I agree with all of the comments on the inanity of TV. My wife and I have been “unplugged” for a few years now, and it has been bliss. Though we are mocked for it in some circles, but that is another matter…
All I can add is that O.J. is looking pretty rough and acting pretty pathetic now. I figure either he is being devoured by his guilt, or else this is karmic retribution. Either is fine by me.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:33 am
!!!! That OJ bit is too much…cripes. To go from a marathon run of reading all of Philip K Dick’s works to seeing what is really going on in the world is a bit too much even for me. (I am also without a TV, my only exposure being Itunes Music Store & Youtube to all this crap).
October 11th, 2006 at 8:21 am
I’m confused. Are you talking about TV or blogs? A perverse blend of jealousy and self-righteousness indeed.
What’s the problem with OJ anyway? Is it the murder or the getting away with murder? Oh I get it, those were just Acts 1 & 2. We’re all impatiently waiting for Act 3: Redemption.
Dammit, we need closure!
unthinkable will be back after these messages…
October 11th, 2006 at 9:55 am
Third act for O.J. Mmm, what would that be.? Political perhaps.?
If this isn`t proof positive that the whole Karma thing is bunk , I don`t know what is.
How about a golf show. ? Golfing with the Juice. Lots of babes as catty`s.
October 11th, 2006 at 10:43 am
Kids are being exposed to a highly concentrated, hyperrealized distillation of what modern materialist society is all about. Our culture is so saturated with shit that it’s starting to bleed through the cracks in the wall, visible to all. You might have a few kids getting sucked into the circus, but the chances of eventually seeing through all the shit have become much, much greater. The sword cuts both ways!
On the other hand, there are more and more creative professionals like myself seeking to collaborate and produce alternative media, infused with the ideals we hope will be effective antidotes to the coma-like blindness and apathy that is destroying us. There is hope. I’m sure Tim feels the same.
October 11th, 2006 at 11:20 am
Hey our culture should be trashy. This is America and the wild west. Freedom of speech is funny and messy. People always decide what they want or don`t want.
Hope for this culture.? Don`t know what you mean by that.
The only hope I see is that we keep the good stuff , and get rid of the bad stuff. That would be our entire political system, that should be gotten rid of.
October 11th, 2006 at 11:22 am
I won’t comment on the O.J. stuff because I personally believe he was framed by drug dealers who wanted to get him back for something he did… but that’s just me, the CT guy!
As for VH-1, I stopped watching that station when they stopped running new “Behind The Music” docs and started on this retro-decade programming. That stuff offends me because, yes, I do remember the ’80’s… and they sucked. But it’s just entertainmnet. It’s not the first sign of the apocalypse, nor is it an indication of the country’s intelligence.
Don’t kid yourself– you may think you are more sophisticated than others because your “tastes” are more rerfined, but I bet I can find at least one thing in all of your closets that qualifies (IMHO) as cultural tripe.
October 11th, 2006 at 11:30 am
And another thing: O.J. exploiting the death of his ex-wife? What about Fred Goldman exploiting the murder of his son? And before you call me insensitive, keep in mind that EVERYONE involved in the O.J. trial profited… except for O.J., who got to walk away free but still guilty in the court of public opinion.
Years ago, Fred Goldman walked into the Clear Channel radio network I worked at and tried to pitch a radio show. He was trying to fashion himself as the new John Walsh, but I fail to see the comparsion: Ron Goldman was an unlucky man involved in a media cuircus of a case; Adam Walsh was an innocent boy who was brutally murdered. I wouldn’t say John Walsh exploited his son’s death, because “America’s Most Wanted” seems to go beyond entertainment; I fail to see what kind of difference a whiner like Fred Goldman would make with a radio show.
Yes, I called him a whiner. People’s adult kids get murdered everyday, and most of them are not famous for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
October 11th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
s.s., nobody said anything about hope for this culture. I said there is hope for those attempting to transmute mindlessness into mindfulness.
By the by, I think the problem lays much deeper than the mushy dichotomy of “good stuff” and “bad stuff”. But perhaps you were tonguing your cheek.
October 11th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Good and bad is just the silly poetry of talking. I would suggest that values and beliefs are relative , and I hope you don`t seriously think you represent good values.?
Your idea of so called values may not suit me. Ha.~!~
They are your opinion or belief. Freedom of belief and from belief is important.
Values are not standardized.
October 11th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
I don’t aim to represent any values at all, but to somehow show people that mindfulness is key to functional value judgement (that is, nonjudgement).
October 12th, 2006 at 9:43 pm
Actually, I thought B&B was a brilliant show. Douglas Rushkoff has some really positive things to say about why that show essentially shattered MTV single-handedly in his book “Media Virus.”
I’m not in particular agreement with Rushkoff’s utterly positive view of media, but that book really opened my eyes to a lot of cool stuff. Highly recommended!
PS. If anybody has read that or any other Rushkoff books, I would love to publish some reviews of them by you guys at my other site:
http://www.popocculture.com/
October 12th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
Unthinkable, I’m fairly certain you’re making a joke, but I’m not sure what the point of it is. Are you suggesting that I’m jealous of OJ murdering his wife? Or are you trying to turn around a phrase I used in some kind of postmodern ironic sense?
October 12th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
Hey James, surprisingly, I have never heard ANYTHING about this, but would very much like to. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief and then re-judge what I think of him and his situation based on this. Great points as well about everyone involved profiting from the murders!
October 13th, 2006 at 2:31 am
Tim, the OJ stuff is just a “btw”. Where you quoted me, I’m referring to this portion of your post:
Sounds like us, don’t it?
My point is that blogs are (despite all good intentions) pretty much the same as these TV shows. I certainly don’t mean any offense by saying this, but the similarities are obvious.
If this is what is wrong with our culture then blogs are only making it worse by adding another layer (at least) of idiots. That’s no joke.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:01 am
Is being on this blog a little like watching fear factor, or Lost then. ? It doesn`t seem like it. This all seems self directed, in an alternative community.